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Wii U price cut ruled out

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata made it clear the Wii U isn't getting a price cut anytime soon. In an investor briefing following yesterday's financial results, Iwata said Nintendo's "resolute stance" on selling the Wii U at a loss means a markdown is out of the question.

"With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown," Iwata said. "I would like to make this point absolutely clear. We are putting our lessons from Nintendo 3DS to good use, as I have already publicly stated.

"However, given that it has now become clear that we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the software lineup is enhanced and at the same time work to enrich the software lineup which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U."

Nintendo cut its end-of-fiscal year forecasts for hardware sales yesterday, the company expecting now to ship 4 million rather than 5.5 million Wii U consoles by March 31. 3DS fiscal year forecasts also took a hit, down from an initial 18.5 million to 15 million.

With concerns over the amount of overseas development for its 3DS system, Nintendo plans to assist Japanese developers in bringing their games to European and North American markets this year. The news must be sweet music to the ears of those who've been clamoring for Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney to get a Western release.